Frame and housing construction for a barrel finishing machine



May 9, 1961 R. T. ROMINE 2,983,084

FRAME AND HOUSING CONSTRUCTION FOR A BARREL FINISHING MACHINE Filed April 24, 1958 I a Sheets-Sheet 1 I Q N I O m 1 m INVENTOR. E04 r POM/NE AUOE/VEVS 2,983,084 FRAME AND HOUSING CONSTRUCTION FOR A BARREL FINISHING MACHINE Filed April 24, 1958 R. T. ROMINE May 9, 1961 3Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. E09 T POM/NE May 9; 1961 R.-T. ROMINE 2,983,084 FRAME AND HOUSING CONSTRUCTION FOR A BARREL FINISHING MACHINE Filed April '24, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INV' ENTOR. 205 r EOM/A/E WMMJU/ ATTOE/VEV FRAME AND HOUSING CONSTRUCTION BARREL FINISHING MACHINE Roy T. Romine, Brady Township, Kalamazoo County,

Mich., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Bell Intercontinental Corporation, Wheelabrator Division, Mishawaka, 11111., a corporation of Delaware Filed Apr. 24, 1958, Ser. No. 730,704 Claims. (c1. 51-164) FOR A This invention relates in general to a frame and housing construction for a barrel tumbling or finshing machine and, more particularly, to a type thereof which is lighter in weight, which has a lower center of gravity, and which has a more accessible interior than existing frame and housing constructions for the same or similar purposes.

It has for many years been the practice in the manufacture of barrel tumbling or finshing machines to provide heavy, and sometimes unsightly, housing constructions for supporting and at least partially enclosing the finishing barrel and the mechanism for operating said barrel. This result appears to have stemmed from the conclusion that such a heavy-duty construction was essential to the satisfactory operation of the finishing machine. Accordingly, existing housings for barrel finishing machines are, for the most part, extremely cumbersome and'heavy, particularly above the rotational axis of the barrel, whereby the machine tends to be top heavy, diflicult to move and handle, difiicult to assemble and fabricate and, of particular importance, diflicult to disassemble at the point of use for the purpose of making repairs and cleaning or inspecting the finishing barrel or the mechanism for rotating same.

In the course of investigating these problems, it was conceived that a rugged, rigid housing structure Was not necessary above the point where the finishing barrel is supported upon the housing structure. Furthermore, it was also discovered that, by appropriate redesign, the mechanism utilized in rotating the finishing barrel could be mounted upon the housing structure substantially completely below the rotational axis of the finishing barrel. Thus, the portion of the housing construction disposed above the rotational axis of the finishing barrel could be substantially reduced in weight and strength since its only material functions would be to provide a cover for the finishing barrel and to support itself. Moreover, the center of gravity of the entire housing construction would, therefore, be lowered and the weight of the entire structure would be in consequence be reduced.

Accordingly, the primary object of this invention has been the provision of a housing construction for a barrel finishing machine which, by comparison with existing constructions for the same or similar purposes, is light in weight, has a much lower center of gravity and is arranged and constructed so that the upper portion thereof covering the finishing barrel can be quickly and easily removed manually by a single workman to provide complete access to the finishing barrel and to the mechanism for operating same.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a housing construction, as aforesaid, comprised of a sturdy, rigid base structure for supporting the finishing barrel and its drive means combined with a light weight hood structure capable of inexpensive manufacture and capable of easy mounting upon, and removal from, the base structure without affecting unfavorably the operability of the finishing barrel or mechanism for rotating same.

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A further object of this invention has been the provision of a housing construction, as aforesaid, which is easy to handle and simple to use, thereby reducing the:

cost of maintenance.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent to persons familiar with this type of equipment upon reading the following specification and examining the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a barrel finishing ma chine including the housing construction characterizing the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of'said housing construction with the closure member thereof in the closed position.

Figure 3 is a broken sectional view taken along the line III-III of Figure 2. a

Figure 4 is a broken sectional view substantially taken along the line IVIV of Figure 3 with part of the finishing barrel removed.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along the line VV of Figure 4 with parts thereof removed.

Figure- 6 is a right end elevational view of said housing construction as appearing in Figures 1, 2 and 4.

For the purposes of convenience in description, the terms upper, lower, left," right, front and rear will have reference to the housing construction substantially as it appears in Figures 1 and 2, which is the normal I The terms inner, outer and position of operation. derivatives thereof will have reference to the geometric center of said housing construction and parts thereof. terms rotation, rotative and the like, when applied to the rotary movement of the finishing barrel, will in clude rotational movement which is either uni-directional or in reversing directions, and suchreversing rotation may comprise either more or less than complete revolutions, thereby including oscillation.

' GENERAL DESCRIPTION As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 4, the housing construction to which this invention relates is part of a barrel finishing machine including a barrel supported for'rota-. tion about a substantially horizontal axis and mecha- The housing construc- I tion is comprised of a substantially rectangular base frame having a side wall and a pairof end walls, and a nism for rotating said barrel.

hood structure including a cover panel and a pair of integral end panels. The hood member is preferably fabricated, as by molding, from a light weight, resin impregnated fiberglas material. The hood structure, the finishing barrel and. the mechanism for driving same are all The hood structure",

supported upon the base frame. including a sliding closure member which is a part thereof, is removable from the base frame without interfering With the rotation of the finishing barrel or the driving. I

mechanism therefore.

Detailed construction I p The barrel finishing machine 10 (Figures 1 and 2),

which is described herein for the purpose of illustrating a housing construction 11 characterizing the invention, includes a finishing barrel 12 (Figure 1), drive mechanism 13 (Figure 4) and hood structure 14 supported upon a l2 and the drive mechanism will be described only briefly.- For a detailed description of the barel and drive mechanism, reference is made to the co-pending application en- 0 titled, Drive Mechanism for a Barrel Finishing 'Machine.

2,983,084 I Patented May 9, i

The housing construction 11 (Figures 1 and 4) comprises a base frame 15, a hood structure 14, having a sliding closure member 17, and the drive shield 16 at one end of the base frame and hood structure. The base frame 15, which is fabricated from a sturdy material, such as steel, has a rear wall 25 and a pair of spaced and parallel end walls 26 and 27 all of which are formed from a single sheet of steel plate in this particular embodiment. The front edge portions 28 and 29 (Figure l) of the end walls 26 and 27, respectively, are curved around toward each other and provide additional stiffening in the end walls 26 and 27. The end walls 26 and 27 (Figures and 3, respectively), are further stiffened and braced by means of the upper and lower, channel-shaped brace bars 31 and 32, and 33 and 34, respectively. The brace bars 31 and 32, which are secured, as by welding, to the end wall 26 near the upper and lower edges thereof, are substantially parallel with each other and open downwardly. Said brace bars 31 and 32 preferably extend from the front portion 28 of said end wall 26 to the corresponding portion of the rear Wall 25 and are secured thereto, as by welding. The brace bars 33 and 34 are mounted upon the end Wall 27 in a similar manner.

The end walls 26 and 27 each have a pair of downwardly extending legs 36 and 37, and 38 and 39, respectively, which are cylindrical in this embodiment. The upper ends of the legs 36 and 37 are secured, as by welding, to the lower surface of the brace bar 32.near the opposite ends thereof and said legs extend below the lower edge of the end wall 26. Said legs 36 and 37 may also be secured, as by Welding, to the adjacent portions of the end wall 26 and the rear Wall 25. The legs 38 and 39 are secured, as by welding, to the lower brace bar 34 and the adjacent portions of the end wall 27 and rear wall 25 in a similar manner. Each of said legs 36, 37, 38 and 39 has a foot plate 41 at its lower end by means of which said legs, hence the base frame 21, may be anchored upon a supporting surface, such as a floor.

The upper brace bars 31 and 33 are additionally secured upon, and with respect to, the end walls 26 and 27, respectively, by means of metallic brackets or gussets 42 and 43, respectively. Such additional strength is provided because the finishing barrel 12 is supported by means including the drive shaft 44 and the bearings 45 and 46 (Figure 4) upon the upper brace bars 31 and 33. Part of the rotor driving mechanism 13 is supported directly upon the base frame 15, and part is supported upon the drive shaft 44, hence upon said base frame.

The hood structure 14, which is preferably molded in a single piece from resin impregnated fiberglas defines a portion of a cylinder having a pair of end panels 50 and 51, and a cover panel 52. The axis of said cylinder is coincident with the axis of rotation of the barrel 12. The end panels 50 and 51 are substantially semi-circular in shape and, when said hood structure is mounted upon the base frame 15, are substantially co-planar with the end walls 26 and 27, respectively. In this particular embodiment, the junctions of the end panels 50 and 51 and cover panel 52 are rounded to conform with the corresponding rounded portions of the base frame 15. The cover panel 52 has a large opening 53 which extends substantially completely across the front side thereof. Said opening is defined by parallel end edges 55 and 56 and an upper edge 57 which is close to, and preferably spaced frontwardly from, the top of the hood structure 14. The end edges 55 and 56 are spaced from their corresponding panels 50 and 51, so that the remaining front portions 58 and 59 of the cover panel 52 at the opposite ends of the opening 53 merge smoothly with the front portions 28 and 29 of the end walls 26 and 27 on the base frame 15.

A pair of circular, coaxial rails 61 and 62 each define an arc of a circle centered coincidentally with the axis of rotation of the finishing barrel 12 and are secured, as

by means of the rivets 63, to the interior surface of the cover panel 52 and the front portions 58 and 59 thereof, adjacent to the end edges of the opening 53. The rails 61 and 62 extend from adjacent to the rearward ends of the upper brace bars 31 and 33 to points below the frontward ends of said brace bars, as shown in Figures 3 and 5. The closure member 17, which defines a portion of a cylinder concentric with the cover 52 has its opposite ends disposed slidably between the rails 61 and 62 and the adjacent portions of the cover panel 52. Brackets 65 and having arcuate inner surfaces, 67 and 68, support the front and lower ends of the rails 61 and 62 upon the front portions 28 and 29 by the spacers 71 and 72 (Figures 3 and 5) and also serve to cooperate with the rails 61 and 62 in this region of said rails for slidably holding the closure member 17. Spacers 71 and 72 (Figures 5 and 3) also serve as stops for engaging the leading or frontward edge of the closure member 17 when said closure member reaches the fully closed position (Figure 2). The closure member 17 has a pair of upstanding handles 73 adjacent to the leading edge thereof which engage the upper edge 57 of the opening 53 for limiting the opening movement thereof.

In this particular embodiment, the rails 61 and 62 curve through an angle of approximately 240 degrees around the axis of the drive shaft 44, the closure member 17 curves through an angle of approximately 135 degrees around said axis, and the cover panel 52 curves from the opening 53 to the rear wall 25 through an angle in excess of degrees. Thus, the closure member 17 is at all times positively guided substantially throughout its arcuate extent between (a) the rails 16 and 62, and (b) either the adjacent portions of the cover panel 52 or brackets 65 and 66.

The hood structure 14- is secured with respect to the base frame 15 by means of the backing strips 76 and the guide strips 77. Two of the guide strips 77 are secured, as by welding, riveting or bolting, to the outside of the end walls 26 and 27, respectively, in such position that the guide strips extend above the end walls 26 and 27. Another guide strip 77 is similarly secured to the outside of the rear wall 29. The lower edges of the ends and back of the hood fit within said guide strips and rest on the upper edges of the end walls 26 and 27 and the rear wall 25. Suitable screws, of which some appear at 79, extend through the guide strips and the adjacent lower edges of the hood into threaded openings in backing strips 76. One such backing strip is provided to match each guide strip. Thus, the lower edges of the end panels 50 and 51, and the lower edge of the cover panel 52 are each held firmly between the respective pairs of backing strips and guide strips. Thus, by removing the screws 79 the entire hood structure 14 can be disconnectcd from the base frame 15 and same can be done without stopping the machine. The drive shield 16 is removably secured, as by screws 82 (Figure 2), to mounting brackets 83 (-Figure 4) which are mounted, as by riveting, upon the leftward ends of both the hood structure 14 and the base frame 15.

Assembly and operation greater detail in my above-mentioned co-pending application. Thus, the resin impregnated fiberglas construction of the hood structure 14 is completely adequate strength- Wise for its intended purposes.

The finishing barrel 12 and the drive mechanism 13 by removing the drive shield 16 and the hood structure 14. However, where less than complete exposure of the parts of the finishing machine is desirable, such can be accomplished simply by moving the closure member 17 within the rails 61 and 62 from its closed position, as appearing in Figure 2, to its open position in Figure 1.

By means of the housing construction 11 of this invention, the center of gravity of the total machine is held as low as possible commensurate with 'sturdiness of structure, convenient location of the barrel, complete safety in operation and pleasant appearance.

Furthermore, it has been found that there is no material vibration in the hood structure of the housing con struction when the machine is operating. Such results are believed to be due in part to the construction and balance of both the finishing barrel 12 and drive mechanism 13. However, they are also believed to be due in part to the particular mounting of said barrel and drive mechanism, which is made possible by the housing construction of the invention.

Although a particularpreferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed above for illustrative purposes, it will be understood that variations or modifications of such disclosure, which lie within the scope of the appended claims, are fully contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. A barrel finishing machine comprising in combination a rigid base frame having laterally spaced apart, vertically disposed, end frame members, a horizontally disposed barrel mounted for rotational movement about a horizontally disposed axis within said base frame members and supported on said end frame members, a drive means operatively connected to said barrel for rotational movement thereof about its horizontally disposed axis, a hood fixed to said base frame to conceal said base frame and barrel therein comprising a bodily portion, the upper end of which is of semi-circular shape having the axis of rotation of the barrel substantially as its center and end panels spaced outwardly of the end frame members of the base frame and in parallel relation therewith with the upper ends of the end panels being of semi-circular shape corresponding to the semi-circular upper end portion of the bodily portion for joinder therewith to form an integral part thereof, an opening in one side of the bodily portion dimensioned to extend crosswise substantially throughout the entire width thereof and circumferentially through an angle beginning about the horizontal and terminating about the vertical planes through the axis of the semi-circular upper end portion of the hood, a cover panel having a radius of curvature corresponding to the radius of curvature of the semi-circular upper end portion of the hood and dimensioned to have a width slightly larger than the width of the opening and extending through an angle greater than the angle of the opening, guide rails positioned alongside of the opening about an are having a center common with the center of the opening and extending through an angle greater than the angle of the opening plus the angle of the cover panel whereby the cover member is guided throughout its arcuate extent during movement between closed and open positions, and means in position to stop said closure when in closed position to conceal said opening and when in open position to clear said opening for access to the barrel.

2. A barrel finishing machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the opening extends through an angle of about 3. A barrel finishing machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the closure extends through an angle of about 4. A barrel finishing machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the rail extends through an angle of approximately 240. i

5. A barrel finishing machine as claimed in claim 1 in which the guide rails extend downwardly beyond the opening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

